A review of tonight's "Chuck" coming up just as soon as I transfer my energy...

"I think it's time we both grow up." -Morgan

There's a lot going on in "Chuck vs. the Masquerade." It's one of the rare episodes these days to not only feature the entire cast but to give them all something of note to do. (Well, maybe Big Mike's presence was a bit skimpy, but he at least had a good reaction to the shell-shocked Ellie and Awesome.) It has a spy plot (Operation Bartowski has to save Volkoff's daughter Vivian), a spy subplot (Robin Givens tries to recruit Casey) and various personal subplots all built around various characters trying to grow up and figure out what to do next with their lives. It has one of those rare-but-welcome Sarah/Morgan scenes, a whole lotta Chuck and Morgan bonding, and an Ellie/Awesome subplot that's actually entertaining on its own (as opposed to the "well, at least they got screentime" feeling I sometimes get when those two are on their own). It even has room to stealthily build up the character whom I'm assuming will be one of the big bads of season 4.1.

It is, in other words, a much denser episode of "Chuck" than we often get, and one that handled almost all of its assignments superbly. Lots going on, but it didn't feel too busy.

I will say that I was losing interest in Chuck and Vivian's friendship for a bit, simply because she's a new character and I'm much more invested in Chuck and Morgan feeling like the third wheel, or even Ellie and Awesome's sleeplessness. But when it became clear (during Boris' speech about how Volkoff raised her) that all of this was leading to Chuck having inadvertently inspired his new arch-nemesis (if, indeed, that's what she turns out to be), I was impressed. Sneaky stuff.

Still, the episode's most engaging material involved Morgan and Casey's feelings of being left behind. Casey's been playing bartender practically from the start of the series, but back then he had more mission value than he's been allowed to show of late. So it was good to see that issue addressed, and to see Casey get to kick some ass in defense of Sarah while Chuck was busy elsewhere. I'm not a huge Robin Givens fan, but I'll admit to being intrigued by whatever's behind the big scary Castle wall(*). A cell for Volkoff, maybe?

(*) On the other hand, given the horrific security problems that Castle and the Buy More have had over the years, I'm not sure why the CIA would want to keep anything or anyone of importance in there. On the other hand, if part of the idea here is to have the place be more secure now with all the added personnel, I can go with that.

The Morgan end of things was even more fun, starting with that hilarious glimpse of Morgan and Alex "transferring energy" while a baffled and scared Chuck and Sarah watched, then going on to Sarah trying to have a playdate with Morgan(**), followed by some serious bromantice moments for Chuck (who has dressed as Han Solo, at least in a CIA-manufactured photo) and Morgan (who is furry enough, but not tall enough, to pass for Chewbacca). The only part of that that didn't entirely work was the notion that Morgan moving out was this huge deal, when he and Chuck had only been living together for a couple of years. If the show had started out with Chuck and Morgan living together (and Ellie already across the courtyard), then this is a serious ordeal. But the guys were well into their adult lives before they co-habitated, and given that they still work together, they'll be seeing each other as much as they did in, say, season two - or, given that Morgan's now kind of a spy, even more. But Gomez and Levi still played the heck out of that stuff, acknowledging it as both silly and sincere at the same time.

(**) Yvonne Strahovski attempting to play with toys = super-adorable. I also enjoyed her delivery of the word "hang" like it was from some alien language.

Ellie and Awesome's story fit the growing up theme a bit more loosely, in that Clara's still going to be a baby for a long time. But moving into the nursery - and letting mom and dad sleep - is a big milestone, and while sleep-deprived new parents is a pretty stock comedy plot, this one was well-executed, amusingly played by Sarah Lancaster and Ryan McPartlin, and with a nice Jeffster! twist that didn't overuse the band. Plus, I've been listening to that Rusted Root song since college, and I don't know the lyrics any better than Ellie and Awesome do.

This episode's writers, Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc, were the rookies on a veteran staff a year ago. Then everybody who ranked in between them and Schwartz and Fedak left to go work on other shows, leaving them as unlikely vets. But based on episodes like this one and "Chuck vs. the Push Mix," they're more than living up to the challenge.

Some other thoughts:

• This week in "Chuck" music: "Felicia" by The Constellations (Chuck and Morgan's Valentine's Day prep), "Love Insurance" by Mike James Kirkland (Chuck tries to get to the fridge while Morgan and Alex have the living room), "Immunize" by Pendulum featuring Liam Howlett (Chuck and Sarah at the masquerade ball), Jeffster! covering Rusted Root's "Send Me On My Way," "Crinan Wood" by Alexi Murdoch (Morgan explains why he's moving out), and "No Time for Dreams" by Last Days of April (final montage).

• By the standards of most 21st century action TV, the opening scene with the Russian guy getting shot in the head at point-blank range wasn't in any way gory. By the standards of "Chuck" (which usually keeps its violence on the bloodless side), it was surprisingly graphic.

• Like Chuck, I am freaked out by masquerade balls, and it is all the fault of Stanley Kubrick, Tom Cruise and the former Mrs. Cruise.

• We've always known that Chuck is the girl in his relationship with Sarah (dreaming of a big wedding, always wanting to talk about feelings), but rarely has it been more explicit than in his Valentine's Day plans, which included him acting out the Julia Roberts part from "Pretty Woman" (also named Vivian, interestingly) and wanting to watch "Love Actually."

• Casey referring to Chuck and Sarah by their 'shipper name of Charah: funny or too in-jokey?

• A clever omission: we don't see any of the awesome escape plan that Sarah hatches to get her, Chuck and Vivian out of the stable, which A)saves money for the cash-strapped series (ala the off-camera fight scenes from the season premiere), B)creates an image in our heads of something cooler than they may have been able to pull off, and C)puts in the same headspace as Casey, who also missed it and feels left out for having done so.

• On the other hand, I wish the final shootout had been staged in a way where it was clear why all the bad guys weren't shooting at Casey while he was busy picking them off one at a time. It's not like he was either in good cover or constantly on the move.

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Definitely my favorite episode of the season, mainly due to the Toy Story 3 scene with Chuck and Morgan. My only gripe is where they're setting us up to go with Casey. That's feeling like a rehash of some things we've seen in earlier seasons.

I liked the episode - the scene where Chuck and Morgan were "breaking up" and were on opposite sides of the wall, only for Sarah to be in Chuck's room - that made me laugh out.

I also like that Vivian was "born" as a bad guy in this episode. It's a welcome departure from the bad-guy-pretending-to-be-good-only-to-double-cross old ploy. I'm looking forward to future episodes to see how Chuck deals with his part in inspiring her.

Maybe it turns out to be nice. I just shudder to think she'll become evil through a Volkoff Intersect. Because there can never be too many evil syndicates independently developing the same technology as the CIA in four years...

I'm thinking the same thing you are. I was even trying to remember if we've been told anything in previous episodes that would hint at this issue. I've got my theory, but I won't jinx it by suggesting it out loud.

I agree that the final shootout was HORRIBLY staged. Way too unrealistic, even by Chuck standards. All of the bad guys had scopes on their guns, yet they all decided to come out from hiding and walk towards Casey? Really? I love this show, but man, they can do better than that.

I also agree that the staging was off, but since it was done in slow-motion, I think it was supposed to represent "bullet-time". In other words Casey's reaction time and facility with a gun border on super-human. He was able to take out all those guys before they could even get him in their sites. It's a bit like the time Sarah knocked a knife out of mid-air with a hatchet and Papa B wondered whether she had an intersect too. Just a reminder that both Casey and Sarah are hypercompetent at their jobs.

I think the body count in this episode may be higher than any prior episode of Chuck (and I don't think anyone ever died on the A team, but that was a really long time ago!).

Lefranc and Judkins have really stepped up their game in the midst of all the other writers leaving. They're by far the most reliable writers on staff.

I thought this episode was at its best with the Morgan/Chuck bromance. Ali Adler used to be the only writer that could consistently write that friendship well, but it looks like Lefranc/Judkins have filled her shoes admirably.

It's true that Chuck and Morgan haven't been roomies very long, but they've been best friends forever; I can see why this particular move--and the motive for it--feels like it signals the end of an era, as Chuck observed.

I was surprised by the head splatter in the opening as well, and also the body count Casey managed to rack up. That seemed like an unusual amount of killing for "Chuck." I was also perplexed by Casey's immunity, seeing that we'd even been given a glimpse at the guy in the tree already. But I was glad that Casey got to exercise his sniper chops again. Especially right after getting his nose rubbed in how long it had been.

That rapid cut montage of Casey's worst nightmare had me in hysterics.

It does look as if Vivian may follow in her father's footsteps, based on Boris' inspiring words, but I'm hoping she takes Chuck's and Sarah's behavior more to heart. Her decision "not to let anyone die for me" seemed a very positive impulse, and it was clear that these two CIA spies were looking out for her. It just seems implausible that she would suddenly morph into a criminal mastermind.

I agree, I was getting the feeling that she is just interested in finding out about her father - and she probably will become a CIA agent or a British agent or something. I didn't get an evil vibe at all.

I too was surprised by the blood spatter at the start of the episode, but considering the actor was that customer service guy you love to hate from you-know-which credit card commercial, I also took a certain perverse satisfaction in seeing him 'offed.' Now if they'd only stop playing that obnoxious commercial ...

Fun episode. I agree that Chuck/Morgan moving out shouldn't be that big of a deal - they should have turned it more on the Chuck is getting married, Morgan is finally maturing, we are now adults type thing.

Valentine's Day beginning was a lot of fun. I like that they are making Alex a little odd - it makes more sense on why she clicks with Morgan(she is enjoying the chocolate face painting, the bear rug, the slapping hands - all weird) The way Chuck is the more sterotypical female it he relationship & Sarah the more male is always played very well I think and makes a great argument as to why they work so well together. You don't see it on screen much, and in real life I think it happens a lot, more than people acknowledge. Funny too that they all had to appear at Castle in front of Beckman, Morgan in a robe, Chuck in his Love Machine shirt and Sarah in her coat. I would have liked a snappy quip from Beckman I think.

I also agree about Casey picking everybody off, that seemed silly. He didn't do anything impressive or have a plan - he just picked off a number of people kind of slowly and they all basically stood there and let him shoot them.

I cringed at first when I realized they were going to do a horse action sequence, but it turned out much better than I thought it would.

All in all, a nice light episode that also advanced an overall arc - good stuff.

I dunno; they've already missed (for a whole season-plus) a great opportunity for a Get Smart reference. Namely, when the Orange Orange was still in the mix, having Casey shut Morgan up with a (yogurt) cone of silence in the mouth. : -)

I will be disappointed if Vivian goes super villain (although that does seem the likely path). She's a perfectly nice, somewhat selfless person who suffers from a lack of direction. How that could translate to leader of a murderous criminal org is so ething that would have to be pretty well sold.

Sarah playing with dolls was the highlight. The whole final sequence seemed aimed at driving home Casey's sharpshooter skills and was pretty boring. Sarah also managed to be just the right amount of knocked out so that she could converse but not aid in her own defense. Convenient, that.

Someone mentioned it above: we were never told who Vivian's mom is. Can you say... Mary Bartowski? Something tells me the character grew up without her, and only knew her as "Frost", and the reason it took 20 +/- years for Mary to attempt and take down Volkoff was so that she would find a way to get back home to Chuck and Ellie while trying to keep her other daughter, Vivian, safe from her father's enterprise, and so that one day, Vivian could meet her mother and two half-siblings.

Good points -- Mary *can't* be Vivian's mother because Viv's too old for that; so if they try to go in that direciton later, there'll be WAAAY too much explaining to do about these discrepancies. More likely than not, Viv's mother is probably long dead, or a) Volkoff would have mentioned her at some point and b) she would have tried to be part of Viv's life if she were merely divorced from Volkoff. As Viv doesn't mention her at all while talking about her missing father, she probably died when Viv was very young.

Anyone else think Jeffster's impromptu show during Clara's birth has scarred/inspired her for life - hence Jeffster's version of Rusted Root putting her to sleep.

Also, for the umpteenth time, how good is Strahaovski? Ever since they've let Sarah loosed up a bit she knocks it out of the park on the humor just as much as she has the action and emotion to this point. The look on her face from the moment the wings popped up until Casey left the apartment was priceless.

The character looking at a screen "cliffhanger" that this show loves is really annoying. And its really frustrating when they are resolved by there basically being nothing interesting on the screen (like when Ellie turned on the computer in the lame chuck losses the intersect for 2 episodes arc).

the best season of Chuck to date and after two slightly off weeks, (though Carina can come back any time - just to mess with morgans head) right back up on form. This better not be the end of chuck or I'm selling the TV

I completely agree. This show uses music better than any I've seen, but if you are using your TV speakers, the music often drowns out the dialogue. I like that someone is putting this much effort into providing a total experience, but it is frustrating when you can't hear the characters. I had to switch to another room where the cable box is attached to a receiver to dial up the dialogue volume.

I stopped looking at the AV club a long time ago. Whoever is posting reviews of Chuck just hates the show. Honestly, life is too short. If you hate something this much, and you aren't getting paid to do it (or if they are, it can't be very much-unless they have some amazing business model no one else knows about!), so why bother? I can understand not watching the show if you just never thought it was for you, or if you didn't know it was on (in other words, if you are someone who doesn't pay attention to what may be good), but if someone really dislikes Chuck, I doubt my tastes would overlap with theirs regarding TV in general! I don't grade every episode, but this one (like many this season) is in that A- range, but I'm a softie when it comes to this show, and I can't think of any below a B+.

I think the AV Club reviewer represents a lot of us out there - people who used to enjoy Chuck who think it's gone downhill and has been spinning it's wheels for some time.

I think they make good points over there - even if you disagree with them, it's an interesting take. I think it's silly to only go to sites where you know people will confirm what you already think. Opinions exist to be challenged.

I stopped reading the AV Club reviews of Chuck a while ago because the reviewer has a tendency to complain and criticize things that he either misunderstood or about which he was completely wrong... which I found incredibly annoying.

If you're going to criticize someone's work, at least get your facts straight.

AV Club has their favorites, like Community, that can do no wrong... and then they have a couple shows that they regularly pick apart and trash even though they don't deserve it.

It takes the joy out of a fun, entertaining show like Chuck... and I pity the people who have been negatively influenced by that hack reviewer.

Sorry to those who agree with him... but would you really have lost your enjoyment of the show if you hadn't been negatively influenced week after week by such biased criticism?

Heh... you're not the only one. "You killed Peggy!" I also didn't have any problem with "Charah", mainly because I'm not a shipper and don't travel in those particular circles. Then again, the other option is "Suck", and that's just flat out mean.Nice Han shout out, too, with "We've got company!"

Now that's a good Chuck episode!! I've felt a little bit disappointed with the last few starting with ep 13. Actually last week's was pretty decent I guess, but not one of my favorites. Tonight's episode felt much more like a classic ep of Chuck, where we get decent storylines for every single character (even if some are small), and I actually felt at least a little bit of intrigue at the cliffhangers and plot twists. Lately it seems like everything has been so predictable that I don't feel much in the way of suspense or anything at all. But tonight I felt some of that again.

Oh and it was a really FUNNY ep too, which I always appreciate. My favorite scene had to be the shot when Chuck and Morgan are on either side of his bedroom wall slowly sliding down the wall in devastation and cradling their action figures, only for Sarah to be standing RIGHT there watching the entire scene (on Chuck's side at least) hahahhaaa. That was good stuff.

The only quibbles I can think of were around the scene where Sarah is posing as Vivian on the horse. The way it was shot was kinda funky ... and a lot of the horseback riding didn't look natural. They clearly had issues trying to figure out the best way to film those action shots. And I'm sure it's already been pointed out but there was a total editing mistake (or filming mistake?) where you could see the stunt person (filling in or Sarah) on the horse with her face fuzzed out.

Oh and I wanted to comment on this, from Alan: "The only part of that that didn't entirely work was the notion that Morgan moving out was this huge deal, when he and Chuck had only been living together for a couple of years." That is SO true and I said the exact same thing to my husband while we were watching that scene!!

I thought it was a great episode, and the brokedown feeling Awesome and Ellie had as they walked into the Buy More was priceless. I also enjoyed Chuck flashing on the horse and taking out the bad guys by using a tree branch as parallel bars. Pretty damn cool

Highlights:- Sarah: [wings pops out] "surprise!"- the awkwardness between Morgan/Sarah -- i always enjoy their scenes together. - Sarah: [re the figurines] "They're fun.......to look at."- shouldnt it be time for Chuck to at least being a tranq gun with him on a mission??- great bromance in here. - Jeffster twist. Heeee.

You guys must be watching a different Chuck than I am, because this show is terrible now. It's just SO lazy and shoddy these days.

Sarah getting her robe caught on a hook? She's a spy who infiltrates places and stealthily kills people yet she's foiled by a hook?! This is even worse than when she didn't spot Chuck's attempted proposal at the restaurant despite being able to spy sharpshooters from across dozens of yards with only her peripheral vision.

And thank goodness those assassins out to kill Sarah when she was on horseback walked into the clearing instead of hide in the bushes with their sniper scopes, sure did save Casey a lot of trouble.

And what are Elle and Awesome even doing on the show anymore? Who cares about a baby on a spy show that _isn't_ the lead character's?

Sorry, I know these are nitpicks, but they add to my growing dissatisfaction with the show. Surely I can't be the only fan who is unhappy with this season.

You're crabby about the detail because you're not keeping it all in context. This isn't MI-5 or Covert Affairs -- it's as much a spy-fi **spoof** as it is a spy-fi show. Or did you miss that while you were sleeping through the commercials??

I have to say that I'm starting to agree with Roy. Save for a few magical moments each episode, these later outings are coming out somewhat... what's the word... maybe 'forced'. Almost a satire of what the show used to be. What used to be a very sincere show with many great and tender moments now plays to me more like a show with a very distinct formula.

I give the show-runners a bit of a pass, as it must be quite hard to continually conjure up scenarios arcs which need to adhere to the episode order given, only to learn half-way through each mini-season that they now have more episodes to fill, yet what used to seem organic now seems less than.

I think it was the 'wine glass' scene from a few episodes back that made me realize how much the show has gone away from its roots. Sure - Chuck knows Kung Fu, but it seems like that has become a crutch to the series in general. I loved the idea initially, especially when the writers assured us that it wasn't the 'end-all, be-all' of Chuck's repertoire, but really, it is. The Chuck I know would have fought a few dudes while trying not to spill the wine, and then in a moment of true 'Chuckiness', drank the wine before finishing the fight. "Now what are you going to do?" We know he's crazy-agile now. We did not need to see him toss a glass of wine into the air, and then have it land on the back of his hand while fighting off more bad guys. Silly, unrealistic (both for the show and the character), and unnecessary, in my opinion.

Also, Sarah's knocked out cold for nearly seven minutes after getting bucked off a horse? She's taken so many terrible beat-downs over the years and walked away, that I just couldn't buy it.

Finally, there are those pesky budget issues. Scenes and shots that would have looked great a few years ago are now replaced with 'green-screen' alternatives. Yes, I'd rather have the show on TV with a smaller budget than not at all, yet there are ways to shoot around those giant,and obviously fake, set pieces.

As for Webdiva's post, I can't fault her, yet I feel like the show started out as a spy-fi send-up with serious, believable heart to a spy-fi spoof that is, unfortunately, spoofing itself.

Now, looking forward: I like the idea of Vivian possibly being part-Bartowski, yet again - it seems like the entire spy world suddenly revolves around Chuck. Nearly every other week, there's some evil mastermind that eventually ends up in Burbank.

Second: I, as many other here, wondered about that last line from Chuck vs. the CATS regarding Ellie possibly being dragged into the spy life, and I couldn't help but wonder if her and Awesome's 'secret mission' in the Buy More this past week was a bit of foreshadowing. After all, she is a Bartowski - apparently, the only family of strong enough mind to handle an Intersect... which again plays into the theory that Vivian is part Bartowski...

Yeah, I got pulled out of it when not one bullet came anywhere near Casey and him a sitting duck, but overall it was one of the funner episodes of the season. Looking forward to the new Volkoff, will they have to use the old Volkoff to bring her down?

I don't think it's a coincidence that they cast an actress that has similar features to Zachary Levi and Sarah Lancaster. Not that I think they'll go down that route, but it does always leave the door open as a possible storyline in the future.